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maltatoday | SUNDAY • 28 FEBRUARY 2021 6 CULTURE Book review Sister Clara Il-Mara Midinba Horizons, 2020 WHO can understand how experi- encing sexual abuse in childhood can change a person into someone with two different personalities: a sinful woman and an altruistic nun; a woman whose sexual envy leads her to commit a cowardly act, and a nun who chastise herself in such a way as to cleanse herself from guilt leading her to commit the most al- truistic act? This is a romantic and tragic story of genuine love, filled up with emotion, blind jealousy, true friendship and hope. This novel brings out the weakness- es and greatness of people in both good and bad experiences; when life pushes them down and they succeed to overcome such events. THE SPRING programme by the Gabriel Caruana Foundation is bearing its fruits! Following the first exhibition the Founda- tion and its army of up and coming artists are busy with SPRING v1.2 at The Mill - Art, Culture and Crafts Centre. Launched on the 20th of February with an open day, SPRING v1.2 un/usual occurrence, is a collective exhibition by Ian Farrugia, Shel- don Saliba and Matthew Schembri. These early career contemporary artists have been selected as part of the Gabriel Caru- ana Foundation SPRING programme. All three artists have emphasized how the SPRING programme by the Gabriel Caru- ana Foundation is especially important for early career contemporary artists who may struggle to find contemporary art venues to show their work. Matthew Schembri is a visual artist and an author based in Malta. Schembri is interested in challenging tra- ditions by creating art that may be seen as non-art, anti-art or some kind of a hybrid that cannot easily be pigeonholed under one established artistic field. Schembri has a number of collective shows under his belt as well as a novel, Stessi, published in 2018 and a solo art exhibition entitled WiN. Sheldon Saliba's artistic research is ever changing and ranges from interpretations of traditional cabinets of curiosities, to ex- ploring the use of land, as well as notions of destructive escapism. Saliba is currently reading for a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in History of Art at the University of Malta. Ian Farrugia's love for literature, history, current affairs and culture peppers his work with various art movements inspiring his methodologies of practice and conceptu- al content. Un/usual occurrence, curated by Elyse Tonna, focuses on found objects. Such occurrences, exposing both the natu- ral and the man-made, present strong par- allelisms and contrasts. Interactions with the works generate a certain formation of consciousness and state of mind, about our environment, about movement and our state of health. SPRING is an ongoing programme for emerging contemporary artists. This pro- gramme allows the Gabriel Caruana Foun- dation to support emerging artists and col- lectives by dedicating physical space, time to engage in critical discussions, curating the exhibitions, project development, sales of artworks, marketing and internationali- sation. The selected artists are also contributing towards the Foundation by dedicating some of their time to be actively involved in run- ning of the Foundation and The Mill. Sub- missions for SPRING are received through an open call. The next deadline is the 28th of February 2021. For more information about the SPRING programme contact the Gabriel Caruana Foundation programme Manager on outreach@gabrielcaruana- foundation.org. The exhibition will run un- til Saturday 6th March, at The Mill - Art, Culture and Crafts Centre, Birkirkara. The Gabriel Caruana Foundation is welcoming the public for an open day at The Mill on Saturday 6th of March, from 11 am to 6 pm. The Mill is open on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays between 10:00 to 12:00 and 17:00 to 19:00. Detail of why i was absent by Matthew Schembri 'Un/usual occurrence' exhibition showcases emerging contemporary artists